Successful Global Trade Network meeting

It was quite refreshing to go to a networking event dedicated to international trade for regional companies. Even more so as the Global Trade Network is a free network run by volunteer business people, without any other agenda.

Forty or more companies turned up, most of them experienced in at least some international trade, to listen to Chris Jarvis's "Back to Basics" and an entertaining non scientist Nick Tait, talking about his science based company Syrris and it's lesson's learnt whilst penetrating international markets.

A bit jarring were poor Mike getting an earful about the UK Technology logo, (it is not the most inspiring of designs - see top left in document here) and some people talking at the back of the room whilst the presentations were going on. Rude? or am I just turning into a grumpy old man.

The networking afterwards was great, helped by the excellent buffet. It was good to chat to companies as diverse as quality vegetable seed producer Pro-Veg Seeds or XJTAG, a debugging software and hardware provider.

From past experience of organising international events or participating in them, I look forward to future meetings where we companies with international connections can share our expertise. Make sure you don't miss the next event by visiting The Global Trade Network site.

Tasty mixed pepper tart for a light lunch

On the lookout for a new enjoyable snack, I chatted to my neighbour David, a young chef to be with an interest in pastry. He recommended a simple pastry dish, the mixed pepper tart.
For a small tart, I would need:

• 100g plain flower
• 25g butter
• 25g lard
• a teaspoon or so of water to help bind

(David recommends using the butter lard mixture because as it prevents the pastry cracking as it would with butter alone)

• Sieve the flour into a bowl
• Add the copped butter and lard
• work in with fingers to breadcrumb consistency
• add water sparingly until bound together
• Chill in fridge for 20 - 30 minutes for easier preparation later

In the meantime prepare the filling:

• Two halves of different coloured peppers
• half an onion
• small clove of garlic
• salt and pepper to taste/season
• 1 small egg
• about 100ml milk

• finely chop the onion and garlic
• fry them lightly in oil 
• chop and add the peppers
• carry on cooking gently until the peppers are nice and soft
• add the seasoning to taste
• Optional, add some basil for additional flavour
• take out to cool
• Whisk the egg with the milk lightly in a jug

Now we need to prepare the pastry

• Take pastry out of the fridge
• onto a floured surface and with a floury rolling pin, roll out the pastry to about 3mm -4mm thickness
• Line a suitably sized oven proof dish or tin with butter
• Wrap pastry around rolling pin and carefully deposit in dish
• tamp down gently
• remove excess above dish rim with a knife
• add the pepper and onion mixture
• add the whisked milk and egg

Cook in a preheated oven at 180 degC for about 20 minutes or until lightly golden and set.
Serve hot, perhaps with a light salad as an accompaniment!

Guess what ! will be trying tomorrow!

Berlin transformed at night in the snow

I arrived in Berlin in the dark today to find lots of snow (6 inches) and sub zero temperatures. The dilapidated Student quarter of Fichtenhain in the city where I'm staying in the NU Hotel is transformed by the snow under the street-lights.

Paths are either clear and icy or covered in an inch of mocha coloured, churned snow, with the consistency of sand (that is strangely pleasant to walk on) between pristine white borders. 

It was a delight to sit in a cosy little candle lit restaurant, with good food and a view of the occasional tram trundling through the cold white outside.

No doubt illusions will be shattered in the cold light of day!

The Challenge of Snow

Snow wrapped Milton in the morning meant cancelling meetings (negative) and using the opportunity for some quick photography (positive!).
I reined in my desire to photograph absolutely everything white and sought a different perspective to the impact of the weather on our village of Milton.
Fortunately, this turned out to be people I met on my walk; the friendly neighbour who was clearing the path to the house of an elderly resident; Two women delivering bales of hay to feed their horses; The father and the delighted children he was towing on a sleigh and the fellow photographers met going to and from the river and country park.
The novel weather seemed to bring out the best in people, taking time to do unusual tasks and enjoy the change, and this is reflected in the photos.
Technically, snow is challenging, because of the extreme brightness, the automatic settings on the camera tend to underexpose.Thus with a digital camera, set to overexpose by one or two stops. I found some useful advice at The Luminous Landscape and Theschoolofphotography.
Different photographers also see different things. I met Philip Mynott, a commercial photographer, on my walk and he had a different set of perspectives of the same morning - see his blog. I also look forward to seeing the pictures from the other members of the Milton Photographic Club as they are posted.
So,if its still snowy where you are - take up your camera and have a play - then let me know what your perspective was.

A walk through London with Christmas Markets and a bit of culture

I enjoyed an early morning meeting with Christian Berner and colleagues from Revacom in London. Not only was it an informative and enjoyable event, it also gave me an opportunity to go on a meandering perambulation through the capital afterwards. Part more business - looking at Christmas Markets for another client - and part pleasure by visiting the Anish Kapoor exhibition and the Rosetta Stone.

The route started by exiting the tube at Mansion House as Blackfriars Station by our meeting place in the Crown Plaza was closed. The walk down Victoria Street afforded glimpses of St Pauls in the rush hour sunlight. After the meeting, it was across Blackfriars Bridge to the South Bank, walking towards the London Eye.

The Cologne Christmas Market spread in a ribbon on either side of Hungerford Bridge. The little chalets were frequented by a smattering of visitors at around midday, with the Eye rotating majestically in the background.

I took the Jubilee Footbridge to cross over the Thames again and via Northumberland Avenue, found myself negotiating a Climate protestors village in Trafalgar Square before reaching Picadilly Circus in the throes of being a building site.

I found the Royal Academy, and the queue, off Picadilly. A half hour wait and I was in the Anish Kapoor exhibition that was ending this week. “Shooting in the Corner” was of brief interest but “Yellow” was surprising for the vertigo it induced when standing very close. Leaving the exhibition, I ate an excellent salad lunch in the Burlington house restaurant, before setting off again.

A long walk down Picadilly brought me to Hyde Park where the “Winter Wonderland” gateway incongruously stood. This Christmas market was large, and by 3pm, getting very busy. At one end were the many stalls, some constructs very large, whilst at the far end, the brash funfair lured in the thrill seekers.

The winter light was fading as walked to a deserted Speakers Corner and Marble Arch to enter the bright lights of the shopping parade that is Oxford Street. A portion of prime construction land had been fenced off and enclosed a smaller Christmas Market adorned by a German Christmas Pyramid that sold Bratwurst – at £3 a go, I gave the sausages a miss.

The pre rush hour crush had started as I walked the 2km along the illuminated Oxford Street to reach the British Museum off Great Russell Street. At 5pm, there was just time to pop in to see the Rosetta Stone, which gave the breakthrough in the translation of Egyptian Hieroglyphics. Another kilometer and I gratefully boarded the Piccadilly line at Holborn to start my way home again after a good 10km tour!

Lincoln Christmas Market

Professional and personal interest led to a visit to the 2009 Lincoln Christmas Market, one of the largest in the UK and Europe with over 130000 visitors expected over the four days it ws open.

Timing and certain masochism meant we went by car on one of the busiest days, Saturday. Fortunately, arriving by 10am at the P&R made getting into lincoln relatively painless.

Three things really stood out about the market:

1. The mass of visitors was so great as to warrant a one way circuit around the stalls and the crush almost hindered stopping for a purchase at peak times.
2. Whilst a significant proportion of stalls went with the festive theme in terms of content and dressing up, many did not. The uniformity of the canvas stalls also diminished the expectations of a Christmas market people may have gained, for example in Germany.
3. Go a few hundred yards from the market route and the masses dropped off considerably - making it worth taking refreshments some distance from the market. We enjoyed an afternoon tea with carol singing in St Peter in Eastgate Church.
   

The location made the venue, with the Cathedral and the castle providing very scenic backdrop - shame the castle walls were not open for access as they would have provided a fantastic view!

Probably the most enjoyable part of the visit to Lincoln for me was actually the Museum of Lincolnshire Life, who were following a Victorian Christmas theme and had lots of interesting exhibits manned by actors in Victorian garb. The Victorian Sweet shop was doing a roaring trade in sugared mice and I spent an informative time with the printer talking about the wonderful man-powered printing machine he was operating.

Trying to return to the P&R stop in town around 5pm, we hit an enourmous queue, at one point 5000 people long, I was told by an official. We delayed our departure till 9pm by having a meal in town - by then the queues were gone.

Photographically, it was a difficult event as you were carried along and buffeted by a sea of people. I used a small portable camera, rather than the SLR. However, the positive Christmas spirit meant that many of the people in costume were happy to be photographed and provided a festive view.

Designing the Delivery Management Website

Richard Wishart of Delivery Management is a good friend and networking colleague, with whom I've collaborated over the years.

As part of his continued interest in using online collaborative tools, Richard moved his company website to a Windows Office Life based server. He then gave me the challenge to utilise the site design facilities there and establish a basic framework that he could follow and use to grow his site.

The initial constraint was to use one of the existing wireframe templates. The colour scheme was suggested by the company logo. Since Richard and his company are forward looking and technology driven, the final top banner was the result of a desire to hint at wireless connectivity, via a broadcasting arial, and forward movement by releasing the logo's eagle to fly on.

The intrepid exploring eagle then became the leitfaden through the main images for the five different areas. Minor details such as curved corners reflecting current visual trends.

The site is a dramatic improvement over the initial basic functionality, with greater regularity and obvious underlying structure that the eye subconsciously detects. Most importantly, Richard appears to be happy with it, such that he has been confident enough to start populating it with content.

As a designer, I know there are always further improvements or alternatives! That said, the Windows Office Live platform provides a cost effective way for many to design a competent functional business site.

Helping Granny - A tale of our time

I've been intrigued by the restrictions of twitter and also about the impact of social media on family life. Tonight, an idea thats been germinating for a while came to fruition in the form of a short story in tweets via www.tweetchat.com. The Twitter messages or "tweets" are reproduced below, with the identifier #grancare - an easy way for Twitterers to follow a thread amongst the flood of messages.

I want to try a short story, in tweet chapters so to speak. If an illustrator want to collaborate for a future repeat, great! #grancare

Helping Granny, a tale of our time #grancare

Granny lived alone and had coped quite well. Like anyone, sometimes she was sweet, sometimes she laughed, sometimes she spat fire! #grancare

One day, her grandson Errol came to visit. They drank tea, ate lots of cake and Errol listened enraptured to Granny reminiscing. #grancare

In a quiet moment, Granny confided to Errol "Things are such an effort nowadays - the sales calls on the phone, the junkmail!" #grancare

I find it hard to remember which pills to take and when and I think Ive read the newspaper twice today!" she added chuckling #grancare

"Most of all, it's very quiet at times, with families too busy with their own lives to call or far away to visit" Granny sighed. #grancare

Errol drove home from his visit to Granny very thoughtful about her words. "What can I do?" #grancare

That evening, Errol sat in the lounge with his laptop in front of the Telly, with his cup of hot chocolate and supply of biscuits. #grancare

He logged into facebook and read the many entries by family and friends. Suddenly he began to write a new post. #grancare

"Dear all" wrote Errol "wouldn't it be great if we all phoned Granny a bit more often and visited more regularly?" #grancare

The next day, Errol innocently logged into facebook and received an unexpected surprise! #grancare

Errol had forgotten that Auntie Sandra was the black sheep of the family and only spoke to Uncle Eric. #grancare

The whole Sanderson family held the Hendersons in contempt ever since the unfortunate incident of the aspic at Ronnie's funeral. #grancare

Emily was on an extended research project in Borneo and Errol's brother was preoccupied with his sextuplets starting school. #grancare

"I'm tied to a tree fighting loggers" came short shrift from Emily "and my solar powered mobile is breaking down!" #grancare

"Our stretched family limousine can't make the hairpin bends or climb the hills near Granny's" wailed Errol' brother. #grancare

The Sandersons were unanimous in blaming the Hendersons and conversely the Hendersons said they'd done more than their fair share! #grancare

Uncle Eric told him to sod off! Only Auntie Sandra responded positively, (if Errol understood her text in nuspeak correctly). #grancare

Somewhat shaken and deflated, Errol swapped the hot choc for a full bottle of finest malt and was unconscious for the weekend. #grancare

The next week, he resolved to call Granny - but the line was engaged. Using callback, Granny finally got in touch. #grancare

"I don't know what's got into everybody!!!" she raged, "I haven't had a moment's peace from the phone!" #grancare

Then she added more mollified "Your brothers visiting next week! He's hired a bendy bus. And Eric's coming for lunch next week!" #grancare

"You could visit more often" Granny said pointedly. "But I visited last week" Errol sighed. "Oh yes! - But you're always welcome!" #grancare

An hour later, Errol rang off and sat down to log onto facebook. "No", he suddenly decided happily, "I'll twitter today!" #grancare

A Cambridge Contribution on Microscopes, Explorers, Medical Pioneers and Inventors on the Fourth Plinth

The Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square was unoccupied since its completion in 1841, when money for a planned equestrian statue failed to materialise - until the Mayor of London and various arts groups initiated a series of exhibitions upon it. One & Other is the current event, assisted by Sky Arts, a brainchild of Anthony Gormley, of "Angel of the North" fame. See him talk about his vision here

Antony Gormley on the Fourth Plinth from One & Other on Vimeo.


For 100 days since the middle of July, members of the public have been occupying the plinth for 1 hour each, 24h a day, come rain or shine. They are chosen by a draw from those who had applied to be part of the project. What you do on the plinth is entirely up to you, as long as it is legal. The project will provide not just a piece of art but also a social record of our society in 2009.

With around 30000 applying for 2400 places, I thought it was worth joining. The August and September draws came and I was unsuccessful. Resigned, I was therefore surprised to have a call a couple of hours after the September draw results asking
"We have a slot free on the Plinth. It's at 2am on 16th Sept are you interested?"
"YES!!!" was my resounding exhilarated reply!

I set off at nine pm to catch the train to London, where a narrow band of rain had been inundating the Plinth with nearly an inch of rain over the past hours. I arrived at Trafalgar Square with rain still bucketing down at 11pm. Fortunately, there was a warm welcome and a cup of tea in the temporary two storey One&Other building on the square from which the event was run, within sight of the Plinth.

There was a camaraderie in that cabin amongst the Plinthers who had just completed, and those who were to go up in the next couple of hours. Stories and experiences, ambitions and fears, Distances travelled and places to go all discussed. Plinthers would go out to view the current incumbents and lend support in a constant ebb and flow. There was tight security, but very sensitively handled. Safety was paramount too. We were all also interviewed and photographed individually as part of research by the Wellcome Trust as well as to provide material for the forthcoming record as a book of the event.

I was extremely lucky! The rain stopped just before I got onto the cherry picker, Stuart of security walking ahead of us as we slowly drove to the plinth, only missing the red flag that men walking in front of early automobiles used to have. I turned to One & Other Jamy who was escorting me and found out that his hobby was Birding with a pleasure at having recorded some Ospreys earlier this year. The Cherry picker rose well above the plinth and then delicately lowered to the edge of the plinth where Mike from Wales had been dancing for the full hour, ready to come off on a physical and emotional high.

And then I was alone on the 1.5m x 4m plinth, 8m above the ground with spotlights and cameras trained on me and a group of friendly hecklers below. (Video of event with times of highlights in text below video available here).


The main thread of my stay was people's hobbies, demonstrated by mine, microscopy. The link to the plinth was the Victorian connection to the birth of amateur microscopy and its flourishing in the Victorian age. I was able to include my favourite 17th Century scientist Robert Hooke, of the Royal Society, who's excitement initiated real interest in microscopy with his book Micrographia; Darwin, who used a simple microscope on the Beagle and later at home, for example on his studies on the goose barnacle; John McArthur, early 20th Century medical researcher in Malaria who settled in a nearby village in Milton, Landbeach, and who invented the McArthur portable microscope used by the Trans Antarctic Expedition headed by explorer Vivian Fuchs, later Sir Vivian Fuchs, and head of the British Antarctic Survey, now based in Cambridge. John also developed the 1972 prize winning McArthur Microscope in plastic for the Open University, who used nearly 8000 of these for students studying biology in their homes for over 25 years.

I'd brought my Watson Kima microscope along, dating from 1957, just one year after I was born (and the year that the Trans Antarctic Expedition successfully completed its journey after 99 days), to look at a few prepared slides, one of Black Oak by Ernie Ives, a Foraminiferan mount by Brian Darnton and a Head louse prepared by myself. The spotlights onto the plinth provided sufficient light and an additional bond of the activity to the plinth to let me view and photograph the samples.

There had been queries about bringing glass slides onto the Plinth for safety reasons (glass was excluded). however, I conducted a full risk assessment - the first submitted by a Plinther! And special permission was granted in advance. (Copy of Risk Assessment here)

The highlight for me was the sample that I had plundered from the fountain in Trafalgar Square (with permission!). The small amount of green sediment captured in a plastic Petri dish not only contained algae, but a free living nematode! A particular delight as I'd worked on parasitic nematodes in the past.

The hobby of microscopy was brought bang up to date by using a digital camera to capture images and then to upload them using a dongle on my laptop to a Picasa album for all to see (see the album at http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/miltoncontact/Oneandother# , for time reasons, I did the upload back in the One & Other shelter).

This would all have been a little remote for the viewer at times as they could not see the samples and photos there and then. I was therefore extremely pleased that, thanks to the generosity of Peter Burt and Jamy Limited, I had a brilliant banner with large photos that I could demonstrate to both the small audience at the base of the plinth and the cameras.

All that remained at the end was to round off with a summary and to pack up. The last few minutes were used to photograph the steel Plinth surface which, after 60 days or more, was showing interesting surface effects (see slide show at top).

Emotionally, I came off on a high that stayed with me for several days. I spent some time back in the One & Other shed uploading pictures. Then, because there was no tube running and no trains to Cambridge till early morning, I set off at around 4am to wander the streets of London with the camera, finally progressing the Victoria Embankment from the Houses of Parliament in the dark to St Paul's at dawn.

Arriving back in Milton, I collapsed in bed and finally slept, with a deep sense of satisfaction at taking part as a small facet in this snapshot of people in Britain in 2009.

I would like to express my special thanks to all those who commented and supported me on my Plinther's Chris_T_1 One&Other page.

Hidden art and desecrated graves in Cambridge

It was a big mistake getting off at Elizabeth Way bridge with a camera last Saturday, as my original intention was just to visit the bank and Waterstones. Instead, I stood captivated by the murals in the Underpass and decided to see what other interesting Art I could find by meandering through the backstreets of Cambridge..
My first find was the Cricketer's Arms in Melbourne Place. Windows on the first floor sported three pictures of first, a Cambridge United footballer, a cricketer and an Irish Rugby player. Chatting to the publican Martin Hyde, who was delighted in the interest, I discovered the following.
The pictures had been designed by the pupils of nearby Parkside school as part of a competition set up by Martin to convert the ugly blacked out windows into something a lot more interesting. A teacher then converted the ideas into scaled up paintings in emulsion.
On my way to Mill Road to see Martin's other pub, the Earl of Beaconsfield and Disraeli painted as a leprechaun, I discovered Mill Road Cemetery.
With graves predominantly from the 1880s to early 1900's, it was a peaceful picture of genteel neglect in the glorious sunshine of the day. A number of the monuments were broken and there was evidence of vandals desecrating tombs and gravestones both from the distant past and extremely recently. Poignant WWI memorials were scatted with the bodies of the young who died, including one in 1918 close to the end of the war and another at Paschendale. The delightful find was the memorial to John Reynolds, who ran the telegraph coach from London to Cambridge back in the 19th century.
Just before Kingston Street, I asked two ladies if they were aware of any interesting art or signage nearby. None they could remember, and yet within 50 yards I found the wonderfully decorated 80 Kingston Street. Chatting to Claire, who just happened to be at a window, i discovered that this was the home of the women's Paradise Housing Cooperative, colloquially know as housing “The Birds of Paradise”.
Taking time and looking around, I found the leprechaun, Mill Road bridge mural and many other artwork and signs, where a little imagination had created a small but positive impression on their environment in Cambridge.
Click on the slideshow to be taken to the Picasa album with captions to the pictures.
(Oh yes, and despite wandering around for 4 and a half hours, I did get to Waterstones and the bank too.)

How do others see your company?

Meeting with a group of German IT companies in Potsdam in preparation for the marketing assistance programme to the UK, I was again struck by the diversity and ingenuity of their ideas. As part of the afternoon they were supposed to fill in company information forms, ostensibly to assist with our market researchers. Like forms everywhere, my fear was that they would inexplicably lack the company's vibrant USPs, so essential for our market researchers to understand if they were to successfully find interested UK contacts. Having been up since 4 in the morning that same day, the silence of studious form filling was also likely to be highly soporific!
So we tried something different! Pairing up, one of the pairs would describe their company, its goals and ambitions, which the other partner would then interpret and use to fill in the form. The roles were then reversed. At the end, each company gave a presentation. In fact, we've We even had one company brave enough to give the presentation of their partners in English to general applause!
The background hubub and engagement was stimulating, the presentations informative. The companies gained useful insights and practice in honing their pitch in a safe environment. Even better, there was also a bit of networking afterwards! An application for a XING group has been initiated.
My suggestion is therfore to use a future networking meeting to try this with a trusted partner.
1. Describe your company, ethos and offers briefly
2. then see what your partner understood and reflects back to you
3. Of course, you can return the favour!

The slideshow is of Potsdam and the museums in Berlin, two cities in constant change, which may also reflect the positive forward looking attitudes of the companies from this region.

Random impressions of Cambridge people

"Tragic life stories" was the sombre heading of one book selection in WH Smiths on Saturday 15th August. However, this was totally counterbalanced by:

The blind spectator joyfully improvising Jazz songs with the delighted black guitarist street player near the market square.

Iron, the handyman, resting on a bench by the river intently watching a duck being plagued by a pike.

The way people stopped on the bridge near the Green Dragon pub in Chesterton to gaze at the water and boats.

Hanging baskets bursting with flowers outside the Green Dragon.

The friendly welcome and brilliant conversation with Dino and his brother at Dino's Hair Salon in Chesterton, when I entered for a hair cut at the spur of the moment, despite it being nearly closing time on a long Satruday afternoon.

An Exceptional Service

Five nights at The Haven, run by Michael and Lorna Marsh, revealed why they had been accorded the only AA Four Star rating for a B&B in Truro. It was the fantastic personal service that made one feel home from home, instead of just as paying customers in lodgings.

Friendly and accommodating when needed, they were unobtrusive and left you to your own devices when you you were OK on your own.

The single long breakfast table was a case in point. Over our stay, guests naturally introduced each other and, more often than not, had inclusive conversations. Mohammed Afasi a General Manager from Egypt on training, Maureen the concert goer, Dorothea and Guenther touring the Southwest and Dave on Bang & Olafson business were some of the lives that touched one another.

Having run other businesses in the region for many years, Michael and Lorna's exceptional skills have been honed to a very high level.

We were lucky to visit them early in their first year of business and achieve a booking at short notice. As their well earned reputation spreads, you are advised to book well in advance in future.

Perranporth beach and the coralling of swimmers.

At low tide, when we arrived, Perranporth had a fantastic sandy beach with picturesque cliffs.

The hordes arrived with their windbreaks and deck chairs, towels and kites and filled the space immediately below the town. They rapidly gave way to the large empty sandy beach. There was one exception – a ribbon of swimmers and surfers that stretched from won to shore until they were bunched together at the water's edge in a 50m wide stretch between flags.

A watchful Lifeguard Landrover/jeep would occasionally dash out to one side with a loud wailing siren that echoed across the whole beach and blast out a warning about the danger of riptides on either side of the safe zones.The noise pollution grated on the ear, even though the riptides were apparent when viewing the sea from the cliffs.

We walked along the white mineral sand until the next lifeguarded section with its flags and occasional sirens at Perran Sands, viewing the eroded cliffs with barnacles and mussels clinging to their bases.

We returned along the cliff path with the occasional para glider hovering above us. Arriving back in Truro at 4:30h, we splashed out on our last luxurious Cornish Cream Tea in the Victorian Tearooms, situated in the old Coinage Hall, with friendly staff and serene surroundings.

A negative bus journey and the kindness of strangers.(Cornwall by public transport V).

A sorry journey

Our last day was a trip to the lovely beach at Perranporth and the journey there was an example of the worst service that we had experienced in our whole holiday.

It began with attempting to buy our ticket on the No 403 Summercourt Travel bus from Truro, Victoria Square, at 10:45h on Friday 7th August. The return fare was £5.60 for 2. When I tried to pay with a £10 note I received the curt reply “no Change, only exact fare.” No further explanation, no apologies for inconvenience.

So we scrimped our remaining change together – and fortunately made the fare and boarded.
One stop on, another passenger with no change received the same curt, unsympathetic treatment. Since he had no change – he had to miss the bus, to his vented frustration and the driver's rude verbal riposte. A later passenger also nearly had to get off – were it not for the kindness of a stranger (see below).

At another stop a lady and her daughter boarded and asked about the service – The drivers comment - which had also been given to other alighting passengers - was “we don't travel very often” . So the lady and her daughter got off again to wait for the next bus. Note that “not very often” was actually an hourly service until early evening around 5pm.

Three potential customers were lost on that journey and others alienated.

Now, to be fair, we all have off days and this might have been an exceptionally bad one for the driver. However, the whole travel experience left such a bad taste in our mouths, that we resolved to make the return journey with the Greyhound 587 in the afternoon, despite needing to buy another ticket.

So what have been done differently? An apology and an explanation – plus an indication of alternatives; a more accurate explanation of the journey times, these small things would have made a big difference in the customers perception. The traveller might need the bus, but the bus also needs the passengers.

The kindness of strangers

Two youths, strangers to each other, boarded the bus. The first, a young woman, again did not have the right change when getting on and was in danger of having to get off. The following youth seeing her predicament, generously and unselfconsciously bought her a ticket - unconditionally (i.e. without trying a follow on chat up!). This was followed by her initially reluctant but then gracious acceptance.

Truro to St Mawes by boat - giant ships to Victorian stained glass (Cornwall by Public Transport IV)

Thursday, we tried out the Enterprise Ferry to St Mawes as a mode of public transport. The river at Truro is tidal. As it was low tide and there was not enough water to board a ferry, we were bussed (unusually by Taxi) to Malpas and boarded there.

The trip to St Mawes was particularly interesting as the river was sufficiently deep further downstream with a depth of at least 70 feet (20meters), to allow sea going ships to moor there, either whilst mothballed or awaiting new cargo. Examples were container ships and two major car transporters – enormous vessels!

Britain's first Mussel farm was also on the river and at Trelissig, there was the chain driven car ferry providing a convenient river crossing.

St Mawes is an idyllic, pittoresque town, with a small castle, that survives on tourism. The small church of St Mawes was built in its present form in 1882 and has beautiful stained glass windows that are shown in detail in the slideshow see link above).

We did travel across to Falmouth afterwards, using another ferry company but included in our return ticket. We were not impressed and pitied the cruise ship passengers disembarking there from the Aida.

However, we did find a haven for a cup of tea and an excellent courgette and lime cake. The Vegetarian Cafe “Pea Souk” is owned, managed, cooked and baked for by “Cordon Vert Trained and Qualified” Nicola Willis. Once lured out of her shell, it transpired that she came from Cambridge originally!

The return trip to Truro by Enterprise ferry took us right to the town on the high tide, arriving in a gentle evening light.

During the day, our B&B hosts at the Haven had laid the foundation for their future greenhouse in cement – a full day's work! Lorna, often seen gardening in the evenings, turns out to be a champion cement mixer & preparer, based on the years of past experience in professional home improvement.

Visit to the Eden Project (Cornwall using public transport III)

Todays cooked breakfast on request was scrambled egg with mushroom. It tasted good but created culinary dissatisfaction in The Haven's Proprietor/Chef, Michael, due to the slight discolouring of the scrambled eggs! His mind was feverishly hatching alternative strategies for tomorrow.

A brisk walk to the Railway station and we were able to by a return ticket to the Eden Project, including bus from station in St Austell to the Eden Project and entry. The train left Truro at 10:19h and the connections were seamless on the way out.

The Eden Project is situated in a former quarry and is sufficiently large to accommodate thousands of visitors. Most people are familiar with the images of the geodesic domes of the Mediterranean and the tropical habitats. We discovered that a far greater area is taken up by the external “Biome” with diverse, interesting, informative and above all colourful plants as you will see from the slideshow.

We also enjoyed the sculptures and artwork that was scattered amongst the plants, from the giant bee and the WEEE Man to the totem pole collection in the tropical Biome. In the latter, the almost unbearable heat was alleviated by a stop in a “cooling room” and by standing at the exit where a substantial breeze gave welcome relief.

The return journey included a half hour wait for the train – and that slightly self righteous feeling that, because we had traveled by public transport, we had followed some of the environmental principles that are fundamental to the Eden Project.

A last tip if you need to eat in Truro – try “The French Bistro” on Bridge Street. I had a fantastic Walnut, apple and Roquefort salad and enjoyed a substantial proportion of Jane's Toulouse sausage and pepper casserole. The Chef prepares the food to a very high standard! Look out for their forthcoming blog at www.thefrenchbistro.blogspot.com.

Truro Cathedral and Victoria Gardens (Cornwall by public transport II)

The one temptation when not having to make your own breakfast is – to have a full cooked English Breakfast. And I succumbed – Michael Walsh at the Haven providing the excellent meal.
Suitably fortified, it was out into the drizzle and into the safety of Truro Cathedral. This cathedral was the first new one to be built in the UK since Salisbury in the 13th century. Truro's construction began at the end of the 19th Century when Cornwall finally enthroned its first own bishop.

The challenge of low light photography in the building kept us entertained till lunchtime – the italianate tiling is worth looking out for, the multilevel aisles unusual and the windows form the largest collection of Victorian stained glass in Britain!

The drizzle still came in waves as we lunched in the aptly named "Lunch". Food was accompanied by a stimulating discussion with a young Yorkshire couple she was an English teacher, he a Physics one. Our topics ranged from hi-tech swimwear, via old English battle sagas and fell running, to the Philip K Dick's novel "Do androids dream of electric sheep".

The centre sights soon exhausted, we meandered up to the outskirts of town where we found well kept allotments and the other highlight of the day, Victoria Gardens - as you can see from the slideshow.

Dinner was at Il Gatto Nero - tasty pizza's, once the service managed to get around to us.

Cornwall by Public Transport I

Last minute e-mails and post done, we set off on foot to the bus stop in Milton, for a holiday in Cornwall. We would try to use public transport.

First, onto the Citi 2 for remarkably fast run into Cambridge at 12:15 and a thank you to the cheery driver. The Citi 1 arrived for the next leg, but when the massive queue rushed to board, an experienced Jane spotted the empty Citi 3 behind it which sped us to the station.

With time on hand before the 13:15 to London Kings Cross, M&S was raided for sandwiches and drinks. The non-stop London run was familiar and passed pleasantly in the sunshine till Ally Pally and the Emirates Stadium heralded an imminent arrival in London.

The Underground at King's Cross seems to perpetually shift whenever I visit! We jumped onto a recently arrived Circle line train to head for Paddington, only to get off at Edgeware road where it terminated, one tantalising stop before Paddington itself.

The 15:06 sleek Intercity 225 of eight coaches was packed – we had not been able to get an earlier train because they had all been booked by last Saturday. Fortunately we not only had reserved seats, we were able to find and claim them, others were not so lucky. it's departure was delayed by 10 minutes as the driver was himself delayed from a previous train.

And so we rode into the increasingly gray skies. Despite passengers gushing off at stations on the way, their numbers were constantly replenished. Because of the train being overfull the carriage ends were blocked with the unfortunate third class placings - standing room with loads of luggage for the price of a full ticket. A side effect was to activate the pressure pads controlling the doors, which banged open and shut in repetitive and irritating beat.

The sea! Great excitement as we left Exeter and the sea lapped right up to the embankment, with the occasional spray from the choppy waters crashing against the curved walls of the sea defences. A flock of older ladies settled temporarily in neighbouring seats, twittering amongst themselves and to anyone who would listen, before departing at Newton Abbot.

The clouds descended further and by Liskeard, our delay had increased to 25 minutes as we were held up my slower trains ahead of us. We were relieved to finally arrive at Truro at 20:25 and walked to our B&B, The Haven.

And a welcome haven it was! with Michael & Lorna Marsh giving us a warm reception, rustling up some scrambled eggs and beans on toast and tea to replenish our energy. The Haven is situated in Truro Vean Terrace and the towers of the Cathedral could be seen nearby from the room's window.

We had landed at last.

A miscellany of facts from Hereford

Worried about relatives getting more forgetful about when to take the burgeoning stack of pills they have to take? Local Gps liaise with client's pharmacies to provide prescriptions that can then be packed into clearly labeled “Dose-it” packs. These can even be subdivided into morning, midday, afternoon an night doses.

Jothi means “light” or “Lamp” - a lovely name for a cheerful lady shop assistant.

Bagless vacuum cleaners may not need bags, however, the do often contain filters that need to be washed and left to dry for 24h when the dust drum is emptied.

The direct translation of the German word for vacuum cleaner “Staubsauger” is - “Dust Sucker!”.

Wargrave House Surgery in Hereford is in a beautiful grade II listed building and garden. According to the receptionist, originally the house was bought by Charles II for his long time mistress, Nell Gwyn, a 17th century actress who was also renowned for her wit and described as “Pretty, Witty Nell”. The Wikipedia article at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nell_Gwyn gives an informative and entertaining account of her known history,